Discussion on:

Can you collect on a verbal agreement?

Contractual Obligation: I once had a written Contract with a client. I performed all the services in the agreement, but, then the client asked me to "take a look at this and see if it can be repaired",,,well by law if I had done that whitout writinga new contract for that then I could never collect any monies owed exept those stipulated in the Original Contract. Any services performed above and beyond the written contract are null and void in open court. So my suggestion is when you do go on afield service call,,carry some spare Contracts with you,,then if any work is asked that is above the original requested stipulations,you have the client sign the new contract that covers any extra work/duties that one performs. Of course this changes state by state so consult with an attorney before any actions of such a legal nature are to be carried out.

Verbal Contracts: I was foolish enough to enter into a work agreement without a written contract. I was tasked with ground-up development of a somewhat high-profile classified ad site in the Bay area. After $7,000 worth of work, I took a weekend off. This was sufficient for the contractee to dismiss me, moreover without the majority of what I was owed being paid. It is likely that a written agreement would not have carried any weight with the unscrupulous CEO I was dealing with, even a letterfrom my attorney had no effect, but it would have been good to have. Your article is informative and inspirational. Now all I need is a good collection agency to sic on her...
There were red flags everywhere, but I wanted the work and chose to ignore them. I know developers tend to be a rational lot, but don't ignore your intuition in cases like this.

Verbal Agreements don't always hold up in court: Years ago, I took a client to small claims court in Arizona for a relatively small sum (less than $1000). I had had the foresight to get the company president to sign a contract specifying a fixed-fee for the work described in the contract, but after the project was underway, they wanted a change made to the design that added an additional cost. We agreed to the change and resulting additional cost verbally only - I didn't get this in writing.I ended up taking them to court for the full amount, but was only awarded what had been in the contract. The judge told me point-blank that "verbal agreements are not binding." Perhaps that only applies to this state...?

Incidentally I never saw one red cent... the company declared bankruptcy six weeks later and vacated their suite without paying the leaseholder. Red flags everywhere......

Boss Relationship: If you have a binding contract with your boss that says that if you leave the enterprise you have to pay for your training and later your boss tells that that contract doesn't matter, there is no way to present any kind of evidence or clue to protect you in a trial isn't it? (Just in case you want to go out of the enterprise of course)

Verbal vs. Written contract: Even when you have a written contract it can be difficult. Do not let your client change the terms under which you accept jobs. If the client wants a fixed bid job when you usually do a time and material there is some underlying reason. Define the deliverables, and if the job needs feedback along the way do not let the client slip on his or her part. Do not let the fear of not getting a job force you into taking a bad job where the client does not understand what is being done and will have a problem paying for the services.

You might not consider yourself a mechanic, but most states have what is called a mechanics lien that you can place against the item you worked on.

Just the thought of having the sheriff come and haul a computer off to auction will get most people to pay up.

What you are referring to is an "oral" contract. All contracts are "verbal", that is, they have words, either written or spoken.

I entered into a verbal agreement with a person to increase the income of her shop. I was to receive ten percent of that increase. I was never paid for my service

I entered into a verbal agreement with a person to increase the income of her shop. I was to receive ten percent of that increase. I was never paid for my service.

Yes I'm a police officer and it is the law

well my father in law bought my wife and i a house as a wedding gift, and gave me an old car of theirs he wanted to get rid of but wouldnt let me pay for just gave it as a gift. now my wife wants a divorce and he wants everything he gave me back. is he bound by law in any way to have to let me keep it and am i entitled to anything on the house?

This was a very informative article on exactly what confused me about verbal agreements. First, thank you.

Second, here's my story. A past roommate's mother owned a business for which she needed an 8-10 minute presentation video. Four of us agreed to work for $15/hr. for 3-4 weeks on the project. One person composed music and did sound mixing, another did flash animations, another collected/directed live footage on location at their business with a SONY PD170 professional camcorder, and I did the voice-over and video-edited the whole thing together. All of us worked long hours to finish this video for her within the time-frame. Our combined hours sheet came to approximately $4000 with the original prices she verbally agreed to before we started any work. We told her we'd cut her a deal for $2000 flat rate for the whole project, which included custom designed packaging. We met the deadline for her presentation, she had reviewed and approved our work-in-progress footage, and we met all her requirements for the video. However, the night before just as we were about to give her the video, she called us to say she could only offer us $200 because she had not cleared it with her business partner first. Of course, we refused to give her anything and told her she was screwing us royal just as we finished her video. We didn't know what to do because nothing was written down. It was a favor for a friend's mother. Never again! This happened in Wisconsin.

Any suggestions?

I paid my cleaning lady consistently $100 a week for the past year, even when she couldn't clean. Sometimes she would only work for part of the time, but I still paid her. We agreed that she would pay the time back, because she really needed the money. I've built up 110 hours that she owes me, and now that I've asked her to start paying the time off she has quit on me. She owes me $1980 or 2 hours a week for the next year. The agreement was that I would continue to pay her $40 a week, and she would work an extra 2 hours owing.

Is there anything I can do?

This just happened to me recently where I did some medical practice consulting. To make a long story short. The doctors refused to pay (after agreeing to pay me when the job was finished) and stopped taking my phone calls and emails. I sent a certified final letter demanding payment within 10 days or I would file a lawsuit. Nine days later, he paid me.

Are you liable if someone agrees to pay you x amount of dollars,for a busness....then onlys pays you 1/2 and then she desides she cannot do it!!
Are you responsiable to !. pay rent on buildign where business is ?
2.Half to move articles out of the premissis in 7 days!

How about a company that says that by buying a product in the past you are contractually liable for whole lot more (like ink Cartridges)at 3 time the value at office supply store.

This article is very confusing.

"Of course, certain types of agreements must be made into a written contract or neither party can be legally held to them. According to attorney Stephan Fishman???s Consultant and Independent Contract Agreements (1998, Nolo Press), the following agreements must always be in writing to be valid:

* Agreements to sell tangible property, such as a computer or car, worth more than $500
* Agreements regarding the sale of real estate
* Agreements that can???t realistically be completed in less than one year, such as a project with three six-month deliverables
* Agreements that someone else will pay you, such as when someone who does not have authority to speak for the company promises that the company will pay you
* Any transfer of copyright ownership"

The last bullet "ANY TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP"

In my understanding of this most examples given in this article and comments deal with some sort of work of art that has a copyright involved. Either the person creating the work of art or the person using it if the copyright symbol can or should be applied.

Am I correct in this understanding?